Erdoğan’s daughter and defense industrialist take first step to marriage

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan (L), AA Photo. Selçuk Bayraktar (L), a defense industrialist engineer producing unmanned aerial vehicles, speaks with Turkish Air Force Commander Abidin Ünal (R)

Sümeyye Erdoğan, the daughter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Selçuk Bayraktar, a defense industrialist engineer producing unmanned aerial vehicles, have taken their first step towards tying the knot. 

Local newspaper Sarıyer Times was the first to announce the news on March 7, saying the two families met at the soon-to-be groom’s family’s house in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district on March 5. 

The couple is expected to get engaged soon.

Sümeyye Erdoğan studied sociology and politics at Indiana University in the U.S. before earning a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. 

Baykar, the company run by Selçuk Bayraktar, his father Özdemir Bayraktar and his two brothers, has been developing unmanned vehicles both for the Turkish military and other countries. 

He graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 2002.

He holds master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was accepted for a PhD scholarship program.

He holds a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Bayraktar has worked as a technical manager at Baykar Makine since 2007 and has taken part in the development of several projects by the company.